May 12th,Earthquake in Sichuan Province ,China

A massive earthquake jolted Wenchuan County in Sichuan province of China on 12 May. The earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, was the most devastating one ever in 32 years in China. Lots of houses and buildings have collapsed. The death toll hit 50,000 and 20 million of people were affected.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• sichuan
• china
• earthquake
• disaster

[JackJivewriter]

I am going to be cruel, I know that this will sound insensitive but this is what happens when the Chineese government focus mostly on their own pockets rather than building codes for their people. This is what happens when a government is more focused on the Olympics than developing plans of action for disaster. This is what China really is. A third world country with a first world dictatorship. And when all the posturing is put to the test, even they suffer and cannot funtion without aid.

[warmtheheart]

I really disprove what you said although I respect you freedom on comments.

First of all,China is not with the dictatorship ,you should read more on chinese politics,instead of believing CNN and other bias media(Now Cnn is a substitute of "fake"since its twist on Tibetan problem).I admit that china is not with the same situation as western countries,but the political environment is under revolution with an aim of more democratic together with keeping the country stable .

[warmtheheart]

Secondly,the government is truely focus on Olympics(which country in the world who get the right will ignore it?),but this is not mutual exclusive with developing plans of action for disaster.

Thirdly,pls notice that this earthquake is measured 8.0 and later on ,there are more than 3000 aftershocks ,some of which are measured heavier than 6.0

Fourthly,pls see more chinese people's comments on the goverments' action on this disaster.

[warmtheheart]

Further more,you can campare the "Dictator" goverment's action on this issue with the most democratic one-us goverment's reaction on the New Orleans'cyclone.

[JackJivewriter]

I wish it DIDN'T take a disaster for people around the world to care about each other. I wish we could care for each other and support eachother without the sensless loss of life. I wish I didn't have to go out into the world and see hatered for the most innane things. China will recover, charity from around the world will see to that. It however is up to the Chinnese like yourself. And no I don't hate China for what it is or its people or anyone for that matter, its just the way I am.

[yaohoo50000]

god bless chinese people!

[serowen]

Maybe you are "insenstive" , I totally respect that. But I hope all of us in this world can unite together, helping each other, understanding each other and fight against every natural disaster~ Maybe we can never stop the disasters,but we can do better to go through it, to live a better life, for every sigle one~

Thanks!

[serowen]

I'm sorry for the long words but I just have to say this.

Okay, In a word, the Chinese goverment may not be that perfect, but they did a great job after the disaster happened.

Last but not the least, I belive all Chinese people are not united together more than ever!

God bless us! God bless all people in this little world!!

[serowen]

Moreover, NOT only civilian buildings collapsed, a lot of goverments' also did. There is a student in my college, whose father was also working in one of the BeiChuan goverments' buildings when it happened. That student went back there but could do nothing to help, nor did the soldiers,coz the ruins were too heavy, and the road to that building was blocked by stones fallen from the mountains, power shavels were just one mile away, but couldn't get there...

[serowen]

And about the building codes, maybe they are not as good as those set in western countries, but this was a 8.0 earthquake. As far as I know, not many building can take it.

[serowen]

Speaking of the goverment, as a Chinese citizen, I have to say the Chinese goverment didn't do very well in the past to disasters sometime (SARS, the snowstorm earlier this year etc.) This time, however, I think most chinese citizens stand on the goverment's side. The reactions they took was quick, I believe they had done their best.

[JackJivewriter]

Do I sound insenstive? Yes, because I am. I have seen human suffering in my years and in history to not feel sorry for anyone who gets caught in Nature's wrath. At the same time, I don't expect anyone to cry for me if this were to happen to myself as it is something I cannot control. This is a natural disaster. You don't have to agree with me, hate me if you want, its just how I feel and nothing will change that and I can never fully explain my reasons because it would take a long time. Period.

[JackJivewriter]

I am not trying to say that China deserves this. This can happen anywhere. All the money China has made over the past ten years, all the effort they have put towards changing their image to the world shows right here they are not the super power they claim to be. They clearly can't build buildings for civians to code, but the government ones stand still. This is an enviromental disaster, nothing more nothing less. This will probably be used as a ploy by the government to gain sympathy.

[JackJivewriter]

As much as the US would never admit, just under 2000 people died and most was the result of after the hurricane ie Violence, Diesies and the like. This was a disaster more on an economic and social level than anything else as well as the law system that was shattered and the chaos. The problem was this could have been stopped with a little more spending on the levies which did not happen nor was it the worse hurricane on record in damage. That would be Hurricane Ivan.